Naked Winemaker

David Chachanidze

Georgia

Ratings
279
Followers
64

David's Wines

  • Georgia
  • 1 wine
  • 1 style

The Georgian winemaker making wines so delicious that people have been drinking them for over 8,000 years

  • We first crossed paths with David on Ray's discovery trip to Georgia, where Ray was tipped off to the whereabouts of a really special little winery in Chiatura. It's a small city in a deep, crater-like valley, so to reach the winery you have to really off-road it and ditch your car for a cable car.
  • It's an ancient winemaking region with reems of history behind it - David's family have been making traditional (and fantastically tasty) Georgian wines since time and memoriam. It's a matter of national identity and pride as so much winemaking knowledge was nearly lost completely after Georgia was annexed in 1922.
  • David works using a qvevri. “What’s a qvevri?!” I hear you ask. It’s a huge egg-shaped clay vessel that’s been used for fermenting and ageing traditional Georgian wine for over 8,000 years. His winery was dug out like a swimming pool, and the qvevri were put in place upright with earth filled around them, so they’re buried, with the concrete floor of the winery laid on top. Amazing!

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